"I think a good artist is able to articulate the human experience. I love to turn up, so I’m going to make turn up music. I love to talk about my hopes and my dreams, so I’m going to do that in my music. I love to fight for what I believe in, so I’m going to do that....I think as an artist, we have a greater responsibility to leverage our access to power folks who don’t have that same access."--Malcolm London

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BATES (STL)

"Raptivist" Tamara Dodd creates dynamic and innovative hip hop with introspective lyrics ranging from gender inequality in the hip hop industry to the shooting death of Mike Brown at the hands of the Ferguson police.

Dodd was the 2016 STL Underground Music Awards 'Artist of The Year' as well as the first woman to take home 'Artist of The Year' in the history of the SlumFest Stl.Dodd is the Co-Founder of Femcee Nation Organization, which helps female artists get their due.

Her latest release, "For Colored Folk" went on to win 'Album of the Year' in the 2017 SlumFest Music Awards.

The Riverfront Times on Bates' latest release:“For Colored Folk is a navigation through spiritual, social and political minefields — a crossroads of intersectional issues that she attacks head-on while aiming straight for the gut. Throughout its fifteen cuts, Bates never meets the audience halfway. Not a single track comes sugar-coated, and she spits with a brash vibe that respects the time and intelligence of her peers and fans alike.”

“In every movement, you have to unify the oppressed before you can make any change.” --Bates

OneMic is a spoken word collective based out of Columbia, MO. Founded in 2014 by T'Keyah Thomas and Andrew Hutchinson, OneMic started as an open mic series geared towards fusing both sides of the poetry spectrum: poetry of the page and poetry of the stage. Embracing the power of collaboration, OneMic has partnered with several community groups, including the after school program, Moving Ahead, and LisaMona Live, an underground jam session featuring local poets and musicians. Finding homes within the walls of the Tiger Hotel, Orr Street Studios and Cafe Berlin, OneMic has tapped into art as a method to build diverse solidarity among age and racial groups. You can find the OneMic team on KOPN (89.5) every Saturday from 2-4pm, bringing you jazz, hip-hop and live poetry.